- Sun Jun 20, 2021 12:57 pm
#4936
Anger as former Test and Trace boss Dido Harding reportedly wants NHS to end its ‘reliance on foreigners’
Former head of the Test and Trace programme, Dido Harding, has come under fire after The Sunday Times reported that she wants to end the NHS’ “reliance on foreigners” if she is appointed chief executive of the health service.
According to the paper, Harding, 53, wants to challenge the government view that it is better to encourage medical professionals to come to the UK from overseas because of the huge cost of training a doctor.
On Friday it was revealed that the Tory peer has applied to become the next NHS boss, replacing Sir Simon Stevens who will stand down at the end of July.
This is despite Harding having previously faced strong criticism for her management of Test and Trace, with a report by the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee in March finding that the programme – used to identify infections and ‘contact trace’ anyone who may have been in close contact with a person infected with Covid – used up “unimaginable” amounts of taxpayers’ money.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
- Philip K. Dick
- Philip K. Dick